Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974)
English mathematician, scientist, and essayist. Born in Poland and educated in England, in 1933 he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Cambridge University, where he also co-edited an avant-garde literary magazine. Bronowski served as a university lecturer before entering government service during World War II; in 1945 he was an official observer of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Throughout the 1950s he was head of research for Britain’s National Coal Board, and from 1964 until his death he was a resident fellow at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California. The author of many books, among them Science and Human Values (1956; 1965), Nature and Knowledge (1969), and Magic, Science, and Civilization (1978), Bronowski is best remembered in Britain for the thirteenpart BBC television series “The Ascent of Man” (1973–1974). See also drbronowski.com.